we could see a storm tonight. it is 64 at the airport. you have to go above the state line to find any 50's this morning. we topped out at 84 yesterday. we have a chance for some thunderstorms and some rain as it afternoon progresses. more on the seven-day forecast coming up. >> good morning. we have a nice start so far. no real delays. 52 miles per hour on the north side. moving well on the harrisburg expressway. it looks like a smooth ride so far. troubling southbound on 95, 05 minutes to get down to the fort mchenry from the 895 split. outer loop on the west side, about an 11-minute ride.

is pretty smoothes out there. this is harford road and it is moving well. this is the west side. so far, a very nice ride down towards 95 on the south side. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> the race for city state's attorney is still underway. >> waiting for absentee ballots to be counted. gregg bernstein leads 30s and jessamy by about 1300 votes. jennifer franciotti joins us live with more. we thought this was all over. >> we sure did. this is a prime example of how every vote counts. neither camp is willing to can see until all of the absentee ballots have been counted. it still took the board of elections nearly a full day to

release complete returns. the race between bernstein and jessamy is too close to call. 3% has been lost in limbo. they forgot to turn and memory cards from 82 voting machines. those cards have been tracked down. there is nothing suspicious or unusual about the slope accounting. >> when you have an election, it is not uncommon to be at 100% within 24 hours. >> now here it is two days after the race and there is concern about the absentee ballots. the counting will begin this morning. we could have the results by this evening. who knows? i could be here tomorrow morning. jennifer franciotti, wbal-tv 11 news. >> the big fight in washington

is about politics. >> the president wants to cut taxes for the middle class. withamara jordan's us live more details -- kate amara joins us live. >> the battle lines over the bush tax cuts were clearly drawn. but then dozens of democratic defectors, including frank kratovil, defected. 31 democrats have crossed over. in a letter to nancy pelosi, the house members are voicing their opposition to the president's plan. he wants to extend tax cuts to the middle class will let them expire for america's highest earners. >> i understand there is an

election coming up. we were not sent here to just think about our jobs. >> republicans and a growing chorus of democrats say raising taxes will hurt the economic recovery and small businesses. >> this month, we need to stop the tax hikes and we need to cut spending. >> most americans do not agree, showing there is strong support for the president's plan to raise taxes on the rich. this new poll contains a snapshot of the party. 34% think there lawmaker deserves to be reelected. the president's approval record is about 47%. kate amara, wbal-tv 11 news. >> the parties are arguing about the economy. is anything getting done in

washington? >> it is the question of the day. it does appear the small business jobs built is heading towards passage. it cannot be voted on as early as today. it would free up about $300 billion for small businesses who are struggling to get credit. >> kate amara, thank you. >> police are on the lookout for a man they said tried to rob a pharmacy. police say two suspects were present but one of them got away. a security guard confronted the men and wound up firing his weapon. >> the suspects fled the location. one of them was caught by police officer and saw the suspect running. >> police believed the other suspect may be armed. the security guard is authorized

to do limited police type work. >> a proposal to build a walmart has sparked plenty of debate. walmart will serve as the anger store at the 25th street station. if it does come to the area, local hiring and living wages. the committee will have a least one more meeting before the make the final decision. that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. do you think the placement of lake walmart in baltimore would be good for the neighborhood? e-mail your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> 64 degrees on tv hill. nasa attempting to help its employees find new jobs at. >> a woman in police custody, accused of giving her toddler

marijuana. >> here is a live look at traffic. this is the beltway at liberty road. road.

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>> welcome back. this is september 16. 66 degrees downtown. we are on the warm side of things before a front moves in tonight. you can see the storms associated with that at the great lakes. we still have a chance of some rain showers and possibly a thunderstorm by this evening. today is the kind of transitional period a southwest wind flow at about 15 miles per hour. it will be warm, 8185. mostly cloudy tonight. there is a chance you could see a thunderstorm or shower.

-- it will be warm, 81 to 85. >> a grand jury indicts a woman accused of giving her daughter marijuana. it was likely not the first time the woman had given the to- year-old girl pot. the woman is charged with tampering with evidence. prosecutors said the crimes were committed sometime in august. >> 3 dallas police officers are facing an incident. police were pursuing andrew collins on his motorcycle. one of the officers has been fired. two have been suspended. three of the six officers now face felony charges. collins has been released on bond. lawyers for a soldier are asking

the judge to move their military trial off the texas army post. lawyers say hasan's he cannot get a fair trial. a military officer will determine if there is enough evidence for a trial. he is charged with 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. >> massar it is helping its employees find new jobs. kennedy space center is partnered to close a job fair. it will host 40 potential job employers. this will be much like the job fair held back in june. this will include workshops to prepare employees for future opportunities. 64 degrees on tv hill. coming up, the morning's financial news in the bloomberg business report. >> getting a traffic ticket, you

probably were not in the best of moods. this wasn't the case for one florida man. that story straight ahead. >> we're checking on your morning commute. there is fire activity in glen

>> now traffic pulse 11 and insta-weather plus together. >> how is looking on this thursday? >> it looks great. the one thing you want to watch for is some fire activity in glen bernie. fire crews are arriving as we

speak. that is one area you want to avoid. 55 miles per hour on eastbound 70. looking good on the rest of the major roadways. 95 coming at of the northeast still at 52 miles per hour at white marsh. let's give you a live view in a couple of spots. very smooth on the inner and outer loops so far. we will enjoy quiet ride for now. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. now let's get the latest on the buses and the trains. hope your doing well. >> i am, thank you. we're looking at a few bus delays, including the 36 buses. about 30 minutes late. the 51 bus is running about 20 minutes late. there is a diversion that light street and pratt street because of construction. we have on-time service on the marc trains.

penn, camden, and brunswick lines are on time. now back to sandra shaw. good morning. >> as we take a look at what is happening, nothing really over the state of maryland get. there is a strong period of low pressure that will drag a front over maryland. we could see some of that in a scattered variety. we will take a closer look in a moment. sort of a mixed bag today. we will see sunshine this morning. we are on the warm side of things now. 66 downtown. 64 at the airport. your statewidet forecast. first we had to the mountains of western maryland. there is a 40% chance for some showers or storms. more clouds this afternoon.

about 830% chance of some rain showers scattered this evening -- about a 30% chance of some rain showers scattered this evening. a decent day if you want to get out in the sunshine today. south winds of 15 knots at the chesapeake. there is a small craft advisory with waves up to two feet. 57 is the normal low. we topped out at 84 degrees yesterday. it looks like mid 80's are possible yet again. maybe a 30% chance of seeing a possible thunderstorm or some showers. 67 downtown. take a look at these winds. hold onto your hat if you have

outdoor plants tonight. we have more cloud cover this morning. high and dry and the actual cold front will be dragged across here later today as the low pressure starts to drag across. that will give us a slight chance for showers. igor is still a massive category 4 storm on track to hit bermuda by sunday. 145 miles per hour sustained winds. julia is also a massive storm. be thankful we do not have any threat from the tropics. 80 degrees tomorrow and breezy. sunny on saturday and sunday. it looks like the drought continues. a slight chance for showers tonight and then we are dry. >> apple is in the headlines,

this time with the announcement of new software. the software will be available in november. you will be able to print documents from this device. print will send graphics over wifi. the toy company will go along with the plan. toys "r" us plans to open 10 stores. they will be opened through january. >> another blow for toyota. jane king has the business news in the bloomberg business report. >> toyota no longer one of the world's top 10 brands. record number of recalls hurting

their image. toyota fell to 11th on the list. coca-cola and microsoft hung on to the top three spots again this year. expect to see fewer cd's at best buy. they will make more room for video games. housing problems have replaced child care as the number one has tracked these calls. many of the calls are related to topics it from moving and foreclosure. bank seizures of homes reached a record in august. one at 381 households nationally received a foreclosure filing. we did have a higher close yesterday. there was speculation about stock buyback.

boeing has some new plans. there will start making plans for transportation to outer space. boeing says the plan is to provide space trips on spacecraft. that is business. i'm jane king reporting for wbal-tv 11 news. >> i wonder how many bags you can take on without being charged extra. >> hopefully they do not charge you for peanuts. >> thank you. >> it is 64 degrees on tv hill. we will check your morning commute again with traffic and weather together. >> come on back and we'll show you orioles highlights. >> don't forget to e-mail us your response to our water cooler question of the day. do you think the placement of a walmart in baltimore would be good for the neighborhood? e-mail your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com.

>> it has started to look like a september to remember for the birds. they were putting together a series sweep against the blue jays last night. kyle drabek made his big league debut starting for toronto. felix pie comes in to score. what a night for brad bergesen. the orioles beat the blue jays 3-1. the orioles now have a five- game win streak. the orioles have the night off tonight. they play the yankees on friday. i hope your day is off to a

fantastic start. >> many police officers are used to complaints when they write somebody a traffic citation. >> somebody received a thank you. >> stephen carroll never wore his seat belt. he refused. >> i do not like being told what to do. >> when he was pulled over and got a ticket for not wearing his seat belt, he was fit to be tied. >> i do not make a lot of money. >> he was not happy. but he was understanding. >> a few months later, the sergeant got a phone message. >> my first thought was he wanted to complain about the ticket. >> stephen wanted to say thank you. >> i was driving home and i was

less than 1/4 of a mile from my house. person ran the stop sign and t- bond ed me. >> he might have been ejected from his van, but for the first time, he was wearing his seat belt. >> if i did not get the ticket, i would never have warned my seat belt. >> now stephen is a self- proclaimed seatbelt advocate. he said that ticket was the best money he ever spent. >> absolutely. >> wow. how about that. lucky guy. >> $130. >> but the point is that he is ok. that was brian gardner reporting. they encouraged tickets to buckle up. 64 degrees on tv hill.

coming up in the next half-hour of 11 news today -- >> absentee ballots are playing a big role in the race for city state's attorney. we will explain why. >> we are tracking some showers and storms over the midwest. >> traveling in glen bernie, we >> traveling in glen bernie, we are tracking some fire activity. everyone knows a fee is a tax. you raised some taxes during that period, particularly the property tax as well as a lot of fee increases. as you know, there's a big difference between fees and taxes. but...they're the same. it's a tax. it's a tax. it's a tax. it's a tax. there's a big difference between fees and taxes. fees and taxes are one in the same. if it comes out of my pocket, it's a tax. now he says it isn't true. we didn't raise taxes. what? still doing the same thing, paying out more money. typical politician. definitely.

my commute home to the eastern shore every night only takes an hour but that's more time than congress spends reading massive spending bills, it's crazy. that's why i wrote a law that requires 72 hours to read every bill. i read the big bills and i said no. no to the $3 trillion budget, no to the bank bailout, and no to the health care bill. at home you would never pay a bill without reading it neither should congress. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message because i'm proud to be ranked one of the most independent members of congress.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. >> good morning, everybody. welcome back. i am stan stovall. >> and i'm mindy basara. thank you for joining us this morning. let's get a check on weather and traffic on this thursday. >> you guys are wearing light jackets. >> we consult each other. it is going to be a nice day. we will see some sunshine this we will see some sunshine this